“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15, New American Standard Version)
Put another way:
This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him. (1 John 5:14-15, Amplified Bible version)
This is a great Word from God and a great promise. It seems to be straight forward, but it can also be taken out of context and misunderstood. One might think he or she could ask for ‘anything’ or ‘everything’, and presto! Like magic, you have what you want. But this is not about what we want, it is about what God wants for us. Let me say that again. It is about what God wants for us.
The context of these verses can be found in verses 1 through 4:
1 John 1:1, “Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above–spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], and everyone who loves the Father also loves the child born of Him. Verse 2. By this, we know [without any doubt] that we love the children of God: [expressing that love] when we love God and obey His commandments. Verse 3. For the [true] love of God is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are not difficult [to obey]. Verse 4. For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world–our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].” (Amplified Version).
Rather than filling up dozens of pages citing the expressed or implied “Will of God” and the hundreds of promises of God contained in scriptures, I will rely on a simple, yet profound Word found in:
Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”
Matthew 6:25-33 reminds and exhorts us, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
There is nothing you can do to earn the favor of God, so relax in Him a little. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rescued, made safe, whole and healthy). For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
It is by God’s grace and your faith in Jesus that you are clothed in His righteousness, cleansed and forgiven of your sins, set apart for His purpose. It is nothing of yourself,
Put simply, love and serve God and one another. Then, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11)
“And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
Think it. Believe it. Do it. Practice it.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Discover more from Whitestone Fellowship
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
